The OKC Thunder are looking to become the first team since the 2018 Golden State Warriors to repeat as NBA Champions. Of course, in order to accomplish such a goal, having a healthy and spry Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the charge come April and beyond is a must.
Though early signs suggested the superstar was in for yet another grueling campaign headlined by heavy usage, over the past few games, a trend has begun to emerge that, in theory, could prove to be the difference between falling short and going back-to-back.
Thunder adjusting Shai Gilgeous-Alexander minutes for the better
After finishing within the top 20 with minutes logged during the 2024-25 regular season, with the most played during the 2025 NBA Playoffs, and enduring the shortest offseason in the association due to their championship round bleeding into late June, seeing Gilgeous-Alexander record 47 and 45 minutes right out of the gate in 2025-26 was rather worrisome.
However, since their two double-overtime triumphs to kick off the year, coach Mark Daigneault has seemingly made it a point to drastically reduce his cornerstone's on-court action.
Over the last five games, Gilgeous-Alexander finds himself averaging 31.8 minutes a night, roughly three fewer than he saw on a nightly basis last season. Perhaps more impressive, in three of their last five contests, the Thunder stud has seen 30 or fewer minutes logged.
Fortunately, this reduction in SGA's playing time hasn't seemed to negatively impact the club's on-court performance. In fact, they're still finding themselves absolutely dominating.
Since October 25, the Thunder have ranked sixth in offensive rating (119.0), third in plus-minus (+16.0), second in net rating (16.6), and first in total stocks (88).
Most importantly, however, they hold the best record through this span at 5-0, and remain the only undefeated team on the year at 7-0.
Coming into the season, it was already well understood that Oklahoma City sports one of, if not the deepest, rosters in the league.
With this, and the stardom-bound emergence of guys like Ajay Mitchell, said depth has been a major luxury when it comes to keeping Gilgeous-Alexander's minutes to a much-needed minimum.
Considering they've been able to manage the MVP's playing time so enviably, even without the likes of Jalen Williams (wrist) and Chet Holmgren (has missed the last three games with a back injury) in the fold, one can only assume that, once at full strength, this roster has the potential to keep this trend going throughout the campaign, which, in turn, should only strengthen the odds of OKC having a fully healthy SGA come postseason time.